


The Woman She Was Meant To Be

by margheritaplz



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Arranged Marriage, Barefoot and Pregnant, Breast Growth, Breeding, Child Marriage, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dubious Consent, Extremely Dubious Consent, F/M, Forced Marriage, Grooming, Halo Effect, Implied/Referenced Forced Pregnancy, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Impregnation, Manipulation, Mind Manipulation, Nesting, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Objectification, Pregnancy, Public Consummation, Scenting, Teenage Pregnancy, Unreliable Narrator, Weird Biology, but no actual incest, multiple pregnancy, patriarchy like whoa, vaguely incestuous overtones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:47:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24329788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/margheritaplz/pseuds/margheritaplz
Summary: Papa said that all women were happiest when they were pregnant and it was our duty to keep them as happy as possible.
Relationships: Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s), twin brother & twin sister
Comments: 8
Kudos: 75
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Patriarchy square of my Banned Together Bingo 2020 card. It is set in a biological AU where multiples are more common than single births in humans, and scent plays a bigger role in communication. These changes have resulted in some different biology and behavior than standard humans in our universe. See Chapter 2 for some notes on the worldbuilding and additional explanation of a few tags (spoilers for the fic).

I came awake to the sound of Mama whimpering in the dark. She was breathing loud and panicked and there were strange rustling noises from the feather mattress she shared with Papa. I heard him groan and there was more rustling and then a moment later his voice came out of the shadows. Even groggy as he was, it was deep and soothing, the same tone he might use trying to calm a frightened lamb or injured dog. "I'm here, Sweetness, everything is fine."

Mama's response was more cry than word, and I began to feel alarmed. What was going on? Mama was usually so happy and calm when she was pregnant, but right now she sounded more frightened than I had ever seen her. There were more rustling and thrashing noises from the mattress, and then Papa's steady voice again. "It's nothing, Sweetness. There's nothing there, it's time to go to your den, that's all. You'll be safe there, come with me."

I relaxed in relief. I had never been awake when Mama denned up before, only woken up to find her gone and one of the other Clan Mothers taking over her duties. But this time when Mama's scent had changed and she'd announced that we would soon have new sisters or brothers, Papa had moved me from the children's room into their bedroom, saying that I would soon be a man with a wife of my own and it was time to start teaching me more about women and how to take care of them. As Mama had grown sleepy and slow with the new life growing inside her, he'd taught me the proper ways to brush her hair to fill the house with the comforting smell of a contented pregnant woman and keep her feeling drowsy and safe. When she began to suffer with morning sickness, he showed me how to feed her plain crackers that wouldn't disturb her delicate stomach and would help keep the babies growing big and strong. Later, when her belly swelled larger and larger and her back and feet began to ache if she stood or walked too long, he showed me the best ways to massage her to make her comfortable again. I liked helping Papa, and Mama always smiled and thanked me. Of course, she smiled at everybody when she was pregnant. Papa said all women were happiest when they were pregnant and it was our duty to keep them as happy as possible.

"Papa?" I called softly, trying not to frighten Mama more or wake up my twin sister Devotion, who was still sound asleep next to me. Papa hadn't been happy when she wanted to move to their room with me, saying that we were too old to be sleeping next to each other like children, but after talking with the birthing assistants and the rest of the town's council of Clan Fathers he'd eventually agreed. With so much important business to take care of, I thought it was nice of the Fathers to understand how close Devotion and I were to each other and convince Papa to let us stay together when he asked their advice. She was just a few breaths younger than I was and lived up to her name. People always said that she'd come into the world holding on to me and never let go. I guess because we were the only pair of twins among Mama's and Papas children, and one of the few pairs in our clan, we'd always been especially close. 

"Diligence, are you awake? Good lad. Your mother is nesting, come help me get her to her den."

I carefully extricated myself from the various limbs my sister had flung across me (she'd always been clingy in her sleep) and went over to Mama and Papa's big bed. Papa had maneuvered Mama to something like a sitting position on the edge of the bed, but she didn't even notice my approach. She was clinging to him and shaking, making wordless noises of fear and distress. Her linen shift clung to her big belly, which already filled most of her lap, although it was still nearly three months until the birth. It heaved and lurched like a separate creature from the movement of the babies inside, who seemed as distressed as she.

"We must get her to her den quickly," Papa said. "She will feel snug and safe there and it will calm her down before she does herself or the babies any harm."

"Why is she so frightened?" I asked. The house was quiet and still, there was nothing that should have alarmed her.

"It's the night demons who come out in the light of the stars to invade the dreams of pregnant women," Papa said. "They always come in the last months to chase a woman to her den. She's been restless for a few nights, but I did not expect them to plague her so hard or so early."

"Are they still here?" I asked, looking fearfully around the room.

"Only in her mind," Papa said. "Here, put your arm around her like so and help me lift her to her feet." He showed me what he wanted, and we raised her, Papa speaking gently and soothingly to her all the while. Her knees almost collapsed when we got her on her feet, but we caught her before she fell and Papa began to guide her to the den built into the corner of the room. Mama's belly was already so big that she moved slowly and heavily, nothing like Papa's usual long, determined strides, but he moved with her patiently, murmuring to her all the way in that low, calm voice. 

At the entrance to the den, we helped her kneel down and crawl into the soft, fluffy pile of blankets inside. Mama had been preparing the den for weeks, washing and airing the bedding whenever she had the energy. Then Papa would sleep on them for a few nights to cover them with his scent before she'd add them to the pile.

The blankets and Papa's warm scent seemed to work like magic. Almost as soon as Mama crawled into the den and begun to make herself comfortable, the harsh gasping sounds that had woken me up began to quiet.

"There, you see?" Papa said. "The night demons can't follow her into the den. Another thing you can do that will help your wife is to rub your wrists together and blend your scent with hers. If she imprinted on it properly, it will help her to recognize you as the birth grows closer and her nesting instincts take over more and more of her mind."

Mama was already curled up and dozing off, but he gently pulled one of her arms away from where she'd tucked it against herself and swirled their wrists together to demonstrate before putting it back near her face. For a moment, Mama didn't react, and then I heard her sniff as she scented the change and give a soft, happy sigh.

"She'll sleep now," Papa said with satisfaction. "When your own wife is pregnant, you must remember that women are simple and easily frightened, but also easy to comfort if you know what to do. Tonight you learned the first and most important duty of any husband - to keep your wife safe so she can rest in peace and bear big, healthy babies."

"Thank you, Papa," I said. "I hope someday I can protect my wife as well as you."

"Good boy. I will stay here a few more minutes to make sure she's sound asleep, but you can go back to bed if you wish. Good night, and thank you for your help, lad. "

"Good night."

********

When I woke again the next morning, Devotion was still asleep, but Papa was gone. I went to the kitchen and found my sister Dependability there, her babies swaddled in baskets nearby while she cooked porridge for breakfast. She was the first of my siblings to marry, and she'd given birth a few months ago to triplet girls just like her. Her two sisters had both left to join other clans, but Dependability had imprinted on one of our Clan Brothers when they both ripened at the same time, and they'd stayed in our house and become a new Clan Father and Mother.

Papa came back inside a few minutes later, his hair wet and messy from a quick dip in the town baths. He smiled when he saw me awake. "Good news, Diligence, I saw Steadfast at the baths and told him about your mother. Last night was the earliest she's ever denned up. I think she might be carrying four after all, and Steadfast agrees."

I smiled. Besides Devotion and I and Dependability and her two sisters, Mama had given birth to four more sets of triplets, but only one of quadruplets. They were now 10 years old and I knew Papa had been hoping for another set, especially after Furze, one of the other Mothers in our clan, had produced two in a row with her last two pregnancies. I had seen his disappointment when Steadfast, one of the town's senior birthing attendants, had told him it was probably three again this time. Mama just smiled like she always did when she was pregnant and told him that they'd try again next time, but with her growing so large and denning up so early, perhaps there was a chance of quads after all.

"Can you come to the bedroom with me?" Papa said. "I want you to try something."

I followed him as he led me back to Mama's den and we knelt down by the narrow entrance, just large enough for a woman crawling on hands and knees to pass through. I'd never before been allowed to look into it while Mama was sleeping there, so it was exciting to be so close. 

"How far can you reach in?" Papa said.

I looked at him, surprised.

"I want you to try and count the babies," Papa told me. 

"Shouldn't we wait for Steadfast or Rowan?" I asked.

"They'll come later," Papa said. "I want to try now, but it's hard for me to fit." He shrugged his broad shoulders expressively. "Can you squeeze in far enough to feel her belly and try to count the babies? We were so hoping it would be four again this time." 

"I can try," I said. I knelt down and squeezed my head and shoulders into the den. When my eyes adjusted to the change in light, I could see Mama lying curled on her side with her arms cradling the great ball of her belly. I reached out tentatively, not wanting to wake her, and pressed gently, feeling for the telltale bumps of elbows or knees. Mama slept on, but a surge of answering movement from inside told me I had woken the babies. I held my breath in trepidation, afraid she would wake in alarm, but luckily she only sighed a little in her sleep and shifted slightly more onto her back, displaying more of her belly to my probing touch. Perhaps in her hazy state she thought the birth attendants were checking up on her. The first two babies were easy to find, and after a few minutes of careful prodding, I was pretty sure I had identified a third, but more than that I could not be certain of. It was still too hard to reach the underside of her belly.

I slipped quietly back out and reported to Papa. "Try again," he said.

"Aren't you worried I'll wake Mama?"

"Here," he said, stripping off his shirt and handing it to me. "Move her onto her back, but first put this lightly across her face, it will help soothe her."

Mama let out another contented little sigh when I covered her face with Papa's shirt, cocooning her in his scent, and when she shifted again, I took advantage of the movement to push her gently onto her back. Her belly jutted up in front of me like a little mountain, still lurching with the movement from inside. They must be doing somersaults in there. It was amazing that Mama didn't wake up, but the cozy mingled scents of her and Papa must have kept her tranquil. I started to run my hands over the mound again - there an elbow, there another, there a head... I found the third baby easier this time, and then, when I finally ran my hands over the underside of Mama's belly, there was a little flutter - could that be a fourth? I pressed a little harder and was rewarded with an answering thump from inside.

I tugged the shirt off Mama's face and quickly backed out. "I think it is!" I told Papa. "I think it's four!"

Papa was so happy he hugged me. "Four little brothers or sisters, what a blessing," he said. "Good boy, some day you'll make an excellent husband, and maybe even a fine birth attendant."

"You think so?" I said excitedly. Few jobs were more respected in our society than that of birth attendant.

"You have gentle hands," Papa said. "I will talk to Steadfast and Rowan about setting up an apprenticeship for you. Who knows, by this time next year you might even be assisting at Devotion's first birth! Think how nice it would be to be the first to welcome your little nieces or nephews." He nodded over at our bed with a significant look.

Devotion was still asleep. Soon after we'd moved into Mama and Papa's room, Devotion had started sleeping later and later in the morning. At first I had teased her that she was becoming lazy, but one day Papa heard me and told me to stop. The next morning before she awoke, he'd pulled the blanket off her and shown me the budding breasts under her shift. "Devotion will soon become a woman," he had said. "Now that she is older, your mother's scent is affecting her, too. That's why she has started to sleep more and more. The more time she spends in the house with your mother's scent, the more she will sleep and the bigger and healthier she will grow before her marriage. You should encourage her to stay inside."

"But Devotion loves to play outside," I'd said.

"You want her to be happy like your mother and bear lots of healthy children for her husband, don't you?" Papa said sternly.

"Of course!" 

"Then you must do as I say."

I had tried my best to obey him and help keep Devotion inside with Mama's scent around her, but it was hard. Devotion loved the gardens so much, and loved being outside in the sunshine and fresh air. If I went outside, Devotion followed. So unless Papa needed me in the fields on the other side of the wall, I ended up spending a lot more time inside the house, too. I guess it must have helped, because Devotion had grown almost as tall as I was, and I was now taller than Mama. Her breasts had also grown since my talk with Papa, and she'd started smelling different as well, a subtle change as yet, but one that I noticed lying next to her at night. 

Today, she had thrown her blanket partly off in the warm morning and the scent wafted gently off her, mingling with Mama's in the air. I could see the shape of one breast outlined under her shift, full and round where it had been small and nearly pointed just a few months earlier. Papa saw me looking and winked at me. "I've been having your mother rest on Devotion's pillow during the day so the scent is stronger for her at night and it's worked better than I ever expected," he said. "She'll be ripening very soon, perhaps even before your mother gives birth." 

I gulped. That was very soon, and now that Mama was denned up she'd be so hazy with nesting instincts that she might not even understand whose wedding she was attending. It seemed impossible that Devotion might be in the same condition in less than a year. She had always been so light and quick on her feet, nothing like the slow, ponderous movements of Mama and the other Clan Mothers as they carried big bellies in front of them or sleeping babies on their backs and in their arms. I couldn't imagine her as a married woman like them, curled in a dark den, mindless and bloated with children.

"Must she marry so soon?" I asked.

Papa frowned. "Of course, it's not good to leave a woman's womb empty too long once she's fertile, she might become wicked."

"Don't you think Mama will want to help pick Devotion's husband, though?" She'd been nursing when Dependability and her sisters married and I'd heard her and Papa discussing possible husbands for them, though of course she'd gone along with Papa's wishes once he decided. There was no way she'd be able to do so for Devotion until after she'd given birth and the nesting instincts had worn off once the babies were a few months old.

"Your mother knows I will pick good husbands for all our girls," Papa said. The triplets did seem happy enough, I had to admit, but they'd all gotten pregnant immediately, so of course they were smiling whenever I saw them.

Before I could reply, Devotion stirred and opened her eyes. Seeing us standing there, she smiled sleepily and gave a little stretch. The movement made her other breast pop out from beneath the blanket and as the fabric of her shift pulled tight across the soft mounds I saw that they'd grown even more than I thought, from cherries to melons in just a few months. There was no way she would make it until after Mama gave birth. They must already be aching to carry out their purpose and fill up with rich, creamy milk. 

"Good morning, Papa. Good morning, Dil. Why are you looking at me?"

"Call your brother by his proper name," Papa scolded her. 

I saw Devotion's mouth tighten resentfully, but luckily she was still too sleepy to argue with him. "Sorry, Diligence," she muttered.

"Your mama denned up overnight and is asleep," he told her, "so make sure you don't disturb her. You're still looking tired yourself, why don't you rest a little more? Diligence and I have everything under control." Papa knelt down next to her and plumped the pillow. Even I could catch the faint whiff of Mama's scent it released, but Devotion didn't seem to notice. Instead she nodded, gave a huge yawn, and rolled over to go back to sleep. 

Papa straightened up. "Come on, let's get breakfast and go out to the fields so she's not tempted to play with you outside later." He walked over to his bed, pulled off one of the blankets Mama had slept under until she moved to her den, and tucked it around Devotion. "There," he said with some satisfaction. "That should keep her out for a few more hours."

********

"Where were you?" Devotion asked when we returned late in the afternoon. She had come outside, but she still seemed drowsy and was only sitting in the shade of the stoop near the open doorway of our house, where Mama's scent still hung faintly in the air. Was it my imagination or had her breasts gotten even larger during the day? As I came closer, I realized her new scent had also grown stronger. There was a gentle muskiness to it that reminded me more of a grown woman than a child.

"Papa needed my help in the fields," I said.

"And a great help he was," Papa said, slapping my back with a jovial chuckle. "Diligence is getting so big and strong."

I blushed. I had filled out a lot over the last few months, and chores that had once left me sweaty and panting were now easy. It was nice that Papa had noticed.

"How is your mama?" Papa asked Devotion.

"She came out of the den for a little while, but she's sleeping again now. I've been helping Furze and Dependability watch the younger children."

"Good," Papa said. "Mama should rest as much as possible. You must be a big girl and help Dependability keep the children away from her when I'm out of the house." 

"Yes, Papa," Devotion muttered.

"Good girl," Papa said, and went inside.

When he was gone, Devotion turned back to me. "Dependability said you helped Papa last night when Mama denned up!" she said. "Oh, I wish you'd woken me up! What was it like?"

I flinched. We'd talked more about it while we were working in the fields and Papa had told me not to tell Devotion too much about the night before, saying there was no point in frightening her about the night demons.

"It was nothing special," I shrugged.

Devotion crossed her eyes and glared at me. "Dil, you know I can always tell when you're lying."

I glared back, trying to look defiant. "I woke up and Mama needed to go to her den, so I helped Papa support her while we took her there, that's all. It was nothing."

Devotion squinted at me suspiciously. "You know I'll keep bothering you until you tell me the truth."

I huffed in annoyance and rolled my eyes. "All too well."

"So why won't you tell me?"

"Look, Papa told me not to, okay?" I said. "He said girls don't need to know."

"Why not? It happens to us, too!"

"I know," I said. "But it was kind of-" I broke off quickly, realizing I'd been about to say too much.

"Kind of what?" she pushed.

"Kind of scary, okay?" I snapped, and then immediately wanted to smack myself in the face for giving in to her. I tugged her around the side of the house, away from the doorway where we might be overheard.

"What do you mean, scary?" she demanded, as soon as we were safely alone.

I sighed and explained to her what had happened. By the time I finished, Devotion was frowning.

"I don't want any demons bothering me," she said.

"I'm sure that Papa will find a kind, strong husband for you who will keep you safe," I said. "Just like he keeps Mama safe." But I didn't feel as certain as I had earlier.

Devotion must have sensed it.

"Mama was still scared, even with Papa right there," she pointed out. "Maybe I'll just never get pregnant. Then they won't bother me."

I was shocked. "All women get pregnant," I said.

"Nuh uh, not Hornbeam's first wife."

"Hornbeam's wife was a witch. Maybe just all _good_ women get pregnant."

"She used to cry sometimes because she couldn't have a baby," Devotion said. "I heard her. If she was a witch and she wanted a baby, why didn't she just use her magic?"

"Witches can't use magic to make babies, silly. The gods punish them for being evil. Rowan swore under the Mother and Father Trees that he saw her put the evil eye on his wife two days before she died in childbirth, and he's a birth attendant! He wouldn't have lost her if not for some evil curse."

"I don't believe it, she was always nice to me," Devotion said stubbornly.

"You can't tell a lie under the sacred trees!" I said, looking nervously upward in spite of myself, as if a lightning bolt might come down from the blue sky to incinerate her where she stood.

None did.

"I've never seen them, so I wouldn't know," Devotion retorted. I blinked, and realized that she was telling the truth. The Mother and Father Trees were a pair of ancient willows, male and female, that stood together on the banks of the river just a short walk from town. I'd been there lots of times. It seemed odd to think Devotion had never seen them when she shared so many other things with me, but she hadn't. Nor had Mama or my other Clan Mothers or any of my aunts or sisters or cousins. Nor had Hornbeam's wife, though all the men and older boys in the town had heard Rowan declare her a witch in their holy shade. 

Girls never went past the town walls that kept them safe. Their whole world was right here in the snug rows of houses and the market squares and the little courtyards with their gardens and wells. Girls might scarcely know what a tree was, I realized. The only trees in town were the carefully tended fruit trees that filled every garden, most pruned and espaliered to keep them short enough for even pregnant women and children to harvest. They resembled the sacred trees like a mouse resembled a wolf. It seemed sad to think that Devotion might live and die without ever knowing how grand a tree could be.

"I'll take you," I said, impulsively. "Then you'll see."

"Really?" she said. "Can we go now?"

"No, there's too many men coming and going. We'll have to sneak out tonight," I told her.

"An adventure!" Her eyes shone. "I've always wanted an adventure."

There was a soft pad of footsteps behind us and I whirled around nervously. Had we been overheard?

"Look at you two, still thick as thieves," Dependability said. "Can you come back inside? We have some guests coming over tonight and Furze, Amity, and I need help getting ready."

"Guests?" I said.

"Patience and some others," she said. "They're coming to celebrate Mama denning up." 

"She's denned up plenty of times before, why are we celebrating it now?" Devotion said, sounding confused.

"I told you, Diligence here counted the babies and thinks it's four again," Dependability said. She reached up to ruffle my hair. "Good work, my not-so-little brother. Papa says he's going to apprentice you to the birth attendants."

I blushed again. "I hope so. He said he'd try to get me a position with them."

"It sounded more settled than that when he talked to me," Dependability said. "Anyway, we're all proud of you, but right now it's time to come on inside and help me get ready, both of you."

Devotion scowled, but came along as I followed Dependability inside. She put me to work helping Amity, the oldest Mother in our little clan, who was still early in her latest pregnancy, and took Devotion to help her and Furze, who was still nursing the younger quads. Despite my good intentions to be useful, I soon began to feel as drowsy as Mama. The cool shade inside felt so good after a hot day in the sun. Before long, I found myself yawning, and Amity sent me to lie down. Gratefully, I went back to Mama and Papa's room, flopped down on my bed, and closed my eyes.

********

I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew, the house was full of people. When I emerged from the bedroom, blinking groggily, they were everywhere: talking, laughing, eating. Children scampered playfully underfoot, or clung to their parents. I wandered through the crowd of friends, neighbors, and family members, looking for Devotion.

Dependability was sitting in one of the chairs in the kitchen, nursing one of her babies while her friend Cherry, one of Steadfast's daughters, sat next to her, cuddling one of her four year old girls with one arm while her other rested lightly on the small swell of her latest pregnancy. Cherry had married a wealthy widower, a friend of her father, when she was even younger than Devotion and I were now. Though she was only a couple years older than Dependability, she was already breeding for the third time. Her father had delivered each of his seven grandchildren. 

The communal hall was packed. I stood in the doorway and craned my neck across the room. Patience, one of Dependability's sisters, was standing with her husband nearby, talking with some of their friends. She had fallen pregnant about the same time as Mama, and her hands were folded over a belly that was large, but smaller than Mama's. It would probably be a few more weeks until she denned up. The third of the triplets, Felicity, was too close to birth to leave her den except for necessities and probably wouldn't have recognized us even if she'd come along, though I saw her husband talking with Papa and Rowan, another of the town's senior birth attendants. I spotted Amity laughing with a few of her surviving sisters from other clans in one cluster of people and Furze and her husband in another, chatting with their oldest son, who'd just married and left to form a new clan with some of his friends and their wives. But where was Devotion?

I started to squeeze my way through the clusters of visitors to check the parlor, but kept being stopped by friends of my mother and sisters exclaiming over how tall I'd grown. It took me several minutes to cross the room and as I went, I realized that nearly all the women were pregnant. The scent of them hung so thick in the air it was almost suffocating. It suddenly dawned on me what was happening. 

The group of women standing in the parlor doorway moved away in a flutter of smiles and cooing remarks and I went in, already knowing what I would find. Sure enough, there was Devotion, fast asleep on the great rug in the center of the room, her face slack with slumber and her breasts rising and falling gently with each slow breath. She was surrounded by more sleeping women, some of them so heavily pregnant that this was almost certainly the longest they'd been away from their dens in days or weeks, and a few more girls in varying stages of ripening for their future husbands, also fast asleep in the fog of scent. I saw a few of the neighbor girls, two of Rowan's motherless daughters, and one of Dependability, Patience, and Felicity's friends, who'd been slow to mature and was now the last of their group to be still unmarried.

"Isn't it lovely?" Dependability said, materializing next to me with uncharacteristic suddenness. "Devotion is growing so nicely. She's already taller than I am and her breasts are bigger, too. Soon she'll have a house full of beautiful babies just like mine." 

"I suppose," I said.

Dependability looked confused. "Aren't you happy for her?"

"She's afraid," I said. "Afraid of the night demons."

"Night demons?" Dependability asked. 

I blinked. "You don't remember how the night demons chased you into your den when you were pregnant with the triplets?"

Dependability laughed. "Oh, no woman remembers much of her pregnancy. It's all just a pleasant haze. Any unpleasant memories are driven off by these beautiful creatures when they arrive." She kissed the sleeping head of the infant wrapped against her chest. "Tell Devotion not to be silly. Women are _always_ happiest when they're pregnant. You feel so safe and cozy and warm all the time. I can't wait to get pregnant again." She patted her empty stomach.

"I'm afraid, too" I admitted. "I don't want to lose her."

"Oh, Diligence," she said, reaching up to ruffle my hair. "Everybody has to grow up. You wouldn't want to deny poor Devotion the best part of her life, would you?"

"No," I admitted. 

"Then let her go," she said. "Let her become the woman she's meant to be."

********

The house was full far into the evening. One by one the younger children dropped off to sleep and were carried up to their rooms, and eventually the guests trickled out as well. Papa carried Devotion back to his bedroom, but instead of putting her in our bed, he put her in his. "The two of you can sleep here tonight," he said. "Your mother's scent will be stronger for Devotion to help her sleep, and I'm meeting with some of the men in town anyway so I won't be back until late. I don't want to disturb Devotion and your mother so I'll just sleep in one of the other rooms."

Mama and Papa's bed was so comfortable I fell asleep almost instantly, despite my earlier nap.

I was woken up sometime before dawn by Devotion poking me in the ribs. "Can we go?" she whispered.

I blinked and shook myself to chase the sleep from my eyes. The house was dark and silent. "Let's try," I said.

Sneaking out of the house across the town and all the way to the wall turned out to be shockingly easy. I knew where to avoid the gaze of the night watchmen on the wall and led Devotion to a small hole some of the young boys used to go into the fields outside without being spotted. I was getting too big to use it, and though Devotion's shoulders didn't catch as mine did, she winced as stood up on the other side and saw the front of her shift smeared with dust where her breasts had scraped against the ground as she slid through.

"This way," I said, taking off in the direction of the river at a brisk jog, but I quickly realized that Devotion wasn't keeping up. I'd forgotten that she didn't have any shoes to protect her feet, and had to pick her way gingerly across some of the rough and rocky patches on the way. Nevertheless, she was staring around her in wonder at everything: the green fields and pastures, the woodlot, the little creek. I realized I would have to be patient so I slowed my pace down to match hers, just like Papa had done the night before for Mama. Girls couldn't help being slow.

"Thank you for taking me out here," she said. "I never thought I'd be able to see the world outside the village. It's beautiful."

I shrugged, it seemed ordinary to me.

"I wish I could explore it more," she said. "What's beyond that hill over there?"

"I don't know," I admitted. I had never been permitted to go.

"Should we go find out?" Devotion asked. She grabbed my hand and started to tug me that way.

"I don't know," I said uneasily, hanging back. "It could be dangerous. Anyway, I thought you wanted to see the Mother and Father Trees."

"Oh, that's right," Devotion said. She sounded disappointed, but perked up again as soon as we were on the path through the woodlot, exclaiming in delight over the little wildflowers that dotted the forest floor, the trees, so much bigger than any she'd ever seen, and even the rustling of the leaves above our heads.

Truth be told, the shadows and sounds of the forest at night creeped me out, but I'd never admit that to my sister. Finally, we reached the edge of the woods and stepped out onto the riverbank where the Mother and Father Tree stood, huge and ancient. In the moonlight, their leaves looked silver, and I heard Devotion's breath catch.

"Oh, Dil," she said, her voice a whisper of awe. "I never knew anything could be so beautiful."

"It's pretty nice," I agreed distractedly. A twig cracking in the woods behind us made me jump.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they're sacred trees, aren't they?" she said. "Are we supposed to pray?"

"You give thanks to them," I told. "For blessing our families and clans with as many children as seeds in the wind. In the spring, the Father Tree gives his pollen to the Mother and the Mother Tree releases thousands and thousands of seeds that float through the air on strands of fluff and take root where they land like our people have spread from sea to sea."

"Oh," Devotion sounded disappointed. "Everything's always about babies." She stepped through the curtains of hanging branches into the arching dome under the Mother Tree.

"Is it true you can't tell a lie in here?" she asked, looking around.

"Yes," I said, still only half listening. Something about the silence of the woodlot behind us was still making me nervous. Perhaps it was just that I'd only been there during the day, when it was alive with the sounds of birds and insects.

"What happens if you do tell a lie?"

"The gods punish you, I guess. I don't know, it's never happened when I was around."

"That you know of," Devotion said darkly, and I knew she was thinking of Rowan's testimony about Hornbeam's wife. "I'm gonna try it and see."

"Nooo, I don't think that's a good idea," I said nervously. I was starting to realize that this whole trip had been a mistake, a major mistake. Devotion loved it out here, what if she didn't want to go home?

"Why not, are you a coward?" she teased.

I started to argue and then remembered where I was and clamped my mouth shut before the words could slip out. "Yes, I guess I am," I said.

"Aww, poor Dil," she laughed. "I trapped you, didn't I? Don't worry, you know I love you anyway."

"Thanks, I love you, too," I said. Sarcastic but truthful, I couldn't be punished for that. I hoped. "Can we go home now?"

"No, give me a few more minutes," Devotion said. "It's just so beautiful. Why don't we sit underneath the tree for a little while and just look?"

"I guess," I said reluctantly. But once we'd settled down together, I had to admit it was nice to sit there curled up with her warm body against me, her hand in mine, and the silvery canopy of leaves above us.

"I wish we could stay like this forever," Devotion said, laying her head on my shoulder. "I wish all this-" she gestured down at her body- "would just stop and we could be children forever."

"Everybody has to grow up," I said, echoing Dependability's words earlier. 

"Don't remind me," Devotion said. "Dependability tells me that all the time. Every time I want to talk or ask her a question. 'Everybody grows up,'" she parroted. "'Everything's great. You'll love it.'"

"Dependability said I'm holding you back and I need to let you be the woman you were meant to be."

Devotion snorted. "What does Dependability know about what I want? She's addle-brained with babies like all the rest of them."

"What do you want?"

"I just told you what I want," Devotion snorted. "Knowing it's impossible doesn't make me want it less." She sighed. "I hate it, that's all. I hate growing up. Papa's always calling you for help in the fields where we can't be together and I'm tired all the time and my breasts hurt and so does my-" She clamped her mouth shut and gritted her teeth. "You know what?" she said. "The gods can't punish me any worse than they already are. What is there to lose?"

"I don't think-" I began, not liking the turn this conversation had taken at all.

But she ignored me and hopped to her feet. "I'm gonna do it," she said. And there under the branches of the sacred tree, she shouted, "I want one hundred babies!"

"Is that... a lie?" I asked nervously. If it had been Mama or Dependability or most any other woman in the town, it wouldn't have been, but Devotion.... I wasn't so sure about Devotion. 

"Yes," she said, tossing her hair. "I don't want any babies."

"All women want babies," I said. I was getting really worried now. What if she refused to get married and became a wicked woman? Or worse, a witch, like Hornbeam's wife?

"Not me," Devotion said.

"You say that," Papa said, stepping into the circle of branches, "but your body says otherwise."

I gasped and leaped to my feet at the same time Devotion clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Papa, I can explain," I said.

"No explanation necessary," Papa said, holding up a hand. "You're not the first and I'm sure you won't be the last who's tricked into taking a woman outside the gates. I hope you've learned your lesson."

"I'm sorry, Papa!" I said. "I'll never do it again."

"It's lucky I caught you or your sister might have brought the wrath of the gods down on the whole town."

I looked nervously at the silvery branches surrounding us. "Isn't there anything we can do to appease them?"

"Oh," Papa said, "a few things." He had a little smile on his face that I didn't understand. Why was he smiling?

He gave a whistle and about thirty other men walked through the hanging branches of the great Mother Tree. Most of them were Papa's friends and other Clan Fathers from the town, though there were a few I didn't know well. Devotion had frozen in horror like a rabbit and didn't struggle, even as one of the men stepped forward and grabbed her firmly, putting a hand over her mouth to muffle her.

"I must say I'm impressed," Papa said. "I never expected you to make it so far. So many girls barely want to leave their own homes, even as children, and here you've made it past the gates and all the way to the Mother and Father Trees despite being so fertile your scent's nearly visible. You're a brave girl, Devotion."

"But here's the thing," he continued, "all woman want babies. Every now and then, a girl like you comes along who thinks she doesn't, but your body tells the truth while your mind plays tricks on you." He walked over to stand in front of her, and smiled. "Let me tell you the truth. You're ripe for breeding. Your whole body cries out for it." 

At this, Devotion finally seemed to snap out of her paralysis and gave a muffled noise. She squirmed and twisted in the arms of the man holding her, but he held her fast.

"I bet your skin feels three sizes too small for you right now and has for days," Papa said. "I bet your breasts and womb are aching, aching to be filled, so greedy for some man's seed that they're hurting. Nobody can tell a lie under the sacred trees without punishment," he admonished. "So don't try and lie to me, girl. I'm right, aren't I?"

Devotion squirmed a moment longer, but when she couldn't dislodge her captor, she finally slumped in defeat, and nodded sullenly.

"Much better," Papa said. "Let's see what we can do about your little problem, shall we?"

Devotion looked back up, her eyes wide and worried over the hand that covered her nose and mouth.

Papa went on. "There's been one complication in trying to find a good husband for you, Devotion, and that's your relationship with your brother here. I know you're angry with me right now but hard as it might be for you to believe, I do love you and want you to be happy. And I want the same for Diligence. Normally, of course, we wouldn't let a boy and girl your age spend so much time together - even share the same bed! - if there were no plans to marry you to each other, but we can't very well have you marry your own brother now, can we? Sisterly devotion can only go so far." There were a few chuckles behind him at the play on words. "Nevertheless," he continued, "you two were so close that it seemed easier to find an alternative solution than to part you. And I must say we've found a perfect one." He turned to the men behind him. "Don't you agree, Rowan?"

The group parted and Rowan came forward down the path that had been opened up to him. He was a heavyset, bearded man, but despite his size, he was known for his gentle hands and soothing voice that helped calm women in the throes of labor. He had joined Steadfast's clan when he became his apprentice years before and the two of them had often attended to Mama during her pregnancies. I knew him well and liked him, but right now he looked different. I saw no gentleness in him tonight; his face in the pale light that filtered down through the branches was hard and unsmiling, and there was a large bundle slung over one hulking shoulder. I squinted in the dappled moonlight, trying to make out what it was. 

When he reached my father, he twisted his body in a strange jerking motion and the lump slid down his side, landing on its feet and revealing itself to be his daughter Thankful, wrapped up in a large shawl, which her father removed once she was on her feet. Thankful was a few months younger than Devotion and me. I'd seen her sleeping in the parlor with Devotion earlier and thought little of it. I didn't know her well, for she'd always seemed a timid little thing to me, who usually kept to her house. Sure enough, she clung nervously to her father and I saw the glimmer of tear tracks on her face. It was a pretty face, I had to admit, though she still seemed awfully small and delicate to me - half a head shorter than Devotion and with a figure far more slim and girlish.

Devotion's eyes reflected the same confusion I felt.

"I do agree," Rowan said. "You see, Diligence, one of the first things you'll learn when you become my apprentice is the different effects of scent. You know that surrounding a girl with the scent of a pregnant woman can help her sleep so she grows taller and ripens sooner. What you may not know is that there are other scents that also have effects. The scent of a virile man in his prime can speed a girl's ripening. With my poor wife passed on and Steadfast's wife nursing, we had no breeding mother like yours at home to surround my Thankful with scent while she sleeps, so she hasn't grown as much as I might have wished for her, but ever since your Papa came to me with his proposal, I've been tucking her into bed with a blanket that smells like me and I think you'll agree, Diligence, that the effect on her fertility has been everything a young husband might wish for." He tossed the shawl she'd been wrapped in to me. I caught it automatically... and was suddenly hit in the face by the most delicious scent I'd ever smelled. It was similar to Devotion's new scent, which still suffused my clothes and the air around me after curling up together under the tree earlier, but different, too. A little moan of ecstasy escaped me and I buried my nose in the shawl to drink the delicious fragrance in.

"That's enough, son," I heard my father's voice say. He was chuckling.

I looked up, dazed. How long had I stood there, breathing it in? It was utterly intoxicating.

Rowan looked equal parts amused and pleased. "As I was starting to say," he continued, "the other thing that helps a girl get ready to breed is the scent of a boy becoming a man. At the same time, the scent of a girl getting ready to breed works wonders at turning a boy into a man. You and Devotion have been feeding off each other for months now, according to your Papa, and both of you are ripe as can be."

I looked down at my body, so much taller and stronger than it had been a few months ago, and realized the truth of his words. I turned to Papa. "That's why you wanted me to stay inside with Devotion so often instead of helping in the fields," I realized.

Papa smiled. "And look at what a strong young man you've become. Any girl will be lucky to have you for a husband. Isn't that right, little Thankful?"

She clung tighter to her father. "Speak, child," Rowan said gruffly.

She looked at him and then at me. "Yes, I would be lucky to have a husband such as Diligence," she said quietly, her eyes cast down.

"Of course you would," Rowan said. He gave her a little nudge towards me, but even the gentle push was enough to startle her and she stumbled. I stepped forward quickly to catch her before she fell, and instantly her incredible fragrance hit me even stronger. I buried my nose into her hair behind her ear, the same spot Papa had taught me to brush and brush and brush again while helping my mother relax during her pregnancy. My mouth watered at the overwhelming scent and I became aware of something else as well... I'd noticed when bathing that my cock had gotten larger in recent months, but now it was suddenly filling and growing so rapidly that I could feel it moving as if of its own accord. I reluctantly pulled my face away from Thankful and gaped as the front of my breeches tented out before my eyes.

"Good lad," Rowan said. He walked over to Devotion and grabbed her wrist to rub against his face, then canted his hips toward me to display the rigid stand of his cock as it filled as rapidly as mine in response to her scent, jutting huge and hard and rigid against the confines of his breeches. "Steadfast and I will take you on as an apprentice," he continued, his voice now rough and husky with arousal, "and your father says-" he wet his lips, eyes darting back to Devotion and taking her in greedily, "-that since you can't bear to be parted from your sister, you can breed Thankful and I'll breed Devotion and you'll both join our clan. Once your apprenticeship is under way, you'll even be able to assist us with their pregnancies. Is it a deal?"

Devotion made a muffled noise into the palm of the man who was holding her still. I looked into her wide eyes and then back down at Thankful. Thankful was so beautiful, and her scent... 

Rowan must have noticed my nostrils flare again. "Let her smell you, too," he prodded.

Tentatively, I raised my wrist up under her nose. 

"Go ahead, Thankful," Rowan said gently. Obediently, she took a delicate sniff, and then a deeper one, then abruptly she relaxed against me, fitting her little curves against me and tucking her head under my chin. It was the sweetest pleasure I'd ever known.

Papa gave a grunt of satisfaction nearby. "You seem a good match based on your reactions to each other's scents," he said.

"I-" I began.

Just then, the big man holding Devotion yelped.

"Diligence!" she cried, as he jerked his hand away from her mouth and shook it, staring at the bite mark that stood out clearly on his palm even in the dappled light under the trees. Rowan grabbed her and slapped his own palm over her mouth before she could finish what she wanted to say. She struggled against it, trying to bite him as well, but he'd wisened to the trick. One of the other men, thinking fast, grabbed her as she struggled and helped to get her still.

"You've been raised better than this, Devotion," Papa snapped. "Be still or we will make you be still."

We'd all been startled by the sudden commotion and there were chuckles and shuffles of feet among the group of men as the sharp scent of adrenaline faded in the air and was overtaken by the bonding scent that poured off us all like soldiers preparing for battle. We would have taken on an army together, let alone a defiant girl. If Devotion kept resisting, she would be in trouble. 

I glanced down at Thankful, clinging to me already like a perfect picture of a devoted wife. I wanted her. Oh, how I wanted her.

"Devotion," I said, stepping toward her with Thankful still clinging to me. "Think. You admitted that Papa was right and you really do want babies. Listen to what it's telling you. Rowan can give you babies and I'll be right there to help you with them - Papa taught me what to do, and I'll learn even more when my apprenticeship starts. This will be perfect - you'll be so happy, and we'll be together always."

"Your brother's right," Papa said. "It's everything you could ever want: your loving brother, your loving husband, a new sister, a clan and a family of your own." It was same deep, soothing voice he'd used on Mama when the night demons frightened her. He stepped closer. "We only want what's best for you." 

"I've helped hundreds of women since I became a birth assistant," Rowan pressed. "Believe me when I say that no woman can know true happiness until she's grown a bellyful of babies for her husband. Let me make you happy."

Devotion gave a muffled sob and closed her eyes. 

The men glanced at each other. 

"Rowan," Papa said, and then everything moved very fast.

Rowan let go of Devotion and yanked off his shirt. Almost before she could react, he had it wrapped around her face. I heard her cry out in surprise, muffled by the fabric, as Rowan pushed her down on the thick moss under the tree and sat on her, still holding the shirt against her face.

For a long minute, nothing happened. Rowan gave her a little shake. "Breathe, dammit," he grunted. There was a muffled whoosh as Devotion let go her pent-up breath and then a sobbing gasp as she sucked air back into her lungs. A moment later, I heard her moan as Rowan's scent hit her, a low, hungry sound. He ripped the shirt off her face as her body went slack and unresisting beneath him. When he finally kissed her, she moaned again into his mouth and I smiled at the sound of my sister's pleasure, turning back to Thankful with my last doubts put to rest.

"You're so beautiful," I said. I buried my nose behind her ear and hers against mine in turn to help her imprint on my scent, half instinct and half remembered advice, blending our scents together in a cocktail of overwhelming potency and filling her nose with it until she was breathing in short, fast gulps. Nearly blinded with the scent of woman in my arms, I let my knees give way and Thankful and I tumbled to the ground with me on top.

Her eyes had glazed over in the moonlight as the fragrance hit her and she wriggled against me with urgent lust, trying to shuck up her bedtime shift. I grabbed it and yanked it higher, wanting more, _more_. As soon as her legs and her sex were bared to me in the moonlight, the scent became even stronger, so powerful I thought I could drown in it. She was so, so _fertile_.... 

Almost without realizing what I was doing, I fitted myself between her legs and shoved into her with my aching cock. Stars exploded behind my eyes as her tight wetness engulfed me and I heard her cry out in pleasure as I breached her maidenhead. "Yes," she gasped. "Yes, breed me, give me your babies..." My hips jerked of their own accord as I thrust deeper into her, letting my release take me as I filled her womb with my seed.

********

After that eventful night, I joined Steadfast and Rowan's clan as Thankful's husband. Her scent had already begun to change with new life taking root by the time we were formally married the next day, and by now she has been in her den for more than four months. I never would have thought that such a little woman might have such a big belly. She is nearly as tall lying on her back as she is standing up, or so it seems to my fond eyes. I suspect a rare set of quintuplets and Steadfast and Rowan agree.

My father slaps me on the back and says that all those extra months of sleeping beside Devotion have made me a beast. My mother nurses my newest siblings and smiles. With four babies, her nesting instincts have been slow to dissipate and her days remain mostly a lovely haze, though it is more than six months since she gave birth. I can't wait to see how long my Thankful remains so happy and content once she is nursing five. If we are as potent together as this first pregnancy suggests, Rowan thinks she might even be able to nurse and breed at the same time, a rare gift. We might end up with the largest family in the village. I certainly look forward to trying.

Devotion is also denned up by now, though only for the last two months. She is most likely having triplets; less impressive than my Thankful's accomplishment, but no less delightful for her. For all her worries, I've never seen someone so changed by pregnancy as my twin. From the wild, stubborn, and over-curious creature she was when we were children, she now fairly oozes the lazy contentment of a properly tended wife, and she is so easy-going and satisfied to follow the clear-headed judgement of her husband that I do believe she'd stop her own breath if he suggested she ought to. As for me, I am happy to be by her side helping her as her belly swells ever larger with my nieces or nephews, though by now she is so deep in her nesting instincts that she can't recognize anyone but her husband. 

The changes began so quickly as Rowan's seed took root after that night under the sacred trees that she never had the opportunity to thank me for the decision I made that led her to such happiness. I give my own special thanks to the trees for their blessings that night and look forward to the day when Devotion's blank eyes grow familiar again and she, too, can understand what a good choice I made for her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Worldbuilding Notes:**

Since carrying two or more babies made late pregnancy a very dangerous period in prehistoric times, pregnancy in this universe evolved to cause more extreme mental changes than pregnancy in ours, including a much more powerful nesting instinct to keep pregnant women near their dens - safe and sheltered places that were originally caves or dugouts, but by the time of this story are typically built into homes. 

In addition to their powerful nesting instincts, pregnant women get flooded with endorphins and other hormones that make them fuzzy-minded, drowsy, and happy in order to counteract the physical hardships of carrying and birthing multiple full-size infants: "mommy brain" and the childbirth halo effect on steroids. These mental changes are very rapid, within hours of conception, as hormone production goes into overdrive. Because of the fuzzy mental state in which women spend much of their lives, it is assumed that women will defer to men's judgement. Independent thought is discouraged in girls even before they reach the age of fertility. Why practice what won't be used? Women feel happiest and most content while pregnant, creating a physical reward to being pregnant as often as possible that's reinforced by the culture. Girls and women who don't want or can't have children are nearly inconceivable and considered freakish and possibly evil. 

People live in communal homes as part of clans within their town or village. A typical clan is 3-5 men (clan fathers) with their wives (clan mothers) and children (clan sisters and brothers). Having multiple adults of both sexes in the household helps ensure that all tasks are covered, even when one or more of the women is nesting. 

The majority of marriages are arranged and girls are typically married as soon as they are fertile. Puberty in this AU has evolved to occur a few years later than standard humans in our universe in order to increase the chances of mother and babies surviving birth, but marriage and pregnancy in the mid to late teens is still the norm. Incest with parents, siblings, and other close relatives is taboo, but marriages between members of the same clan who are unrelated or more distantly related are allowed, as are marriages outside the clan. Newlyweds may start a new clan of their own, or join an existing clan as a new clan mother and clan father. Widowed members of the clan may stay with it or marry into another one. Clan fathers participate in town government via council.

Humans in this universe rely much more on scent for communication than humans in our world do. Among other things, people can smell the hormone changes that show when a girl or woman becomes fertile during puberty or after weaning her children. A woman's scent also changes when she is pregnant, beginning almost immediately after conception. Other changes in health and emotional state also cause changes in scent in both men and women.

As in our world, towns and villages tend to be clustered near waterways. In this region, willow trees have gained special cultural and religious significance, both due to their association with life-giving water for people, crops, and livestock, and because they are dioecious plants - that is, they produce either male or female reproductive organs, not both. Mother and Father willows are revered and regarded as sacred. Please note that the Puritan-inspired names in this story do not reflect the religious faith of the characters - Christianity doesn't exist in this universe - but were only chosen as an example of the creative naming practices that result from large family sizes.

 **Tagging Notes:**

Spoilers for the fic.

Underage: Teenage girls may be married either to boys their own age or slightly older, or to adult men (typically widowers). Both types of relationship are depicted.

Manipulation, body modification, and consent issues tags: Scent has both mental and physical effects on people in this universe and it's revealed that the men of this culture manipulate scent to control their wives and children, including their ability to consent to sexual activity.

Incest and objectification tags: People are creepily over-invested in the breasts and wombs of their female relatives, but no actual incest happens in the story or is intended to be implied.


End file.
